Diplomas—those venerable printed documents that lack hotlinks and interactivity features—have lost some of their luster. While employers increasingly demand that new hires have college degrees, the transcripts supporting those hard-earned credentials are no longer the most informative tool students have to exhibit their skills. “The bachelor’s degree or Ph.D. will never go away,” says Philip […]
No institution can be better than its faculty. An institution can be better than its president, its football team, its library and its food service—but if the faculty are weak, the institution is weak. We are in an exciting time for faculty in that their roles are expanding with new opportunities in online education, MOOCs, […]
There are many programs that call themselves "college in prison." Most lean toward job training and teaching skills that prisoners can use upon their release. Bard College's Prison Initiative, also known as BPI, focuses instead on the importance of the liberal arts in public life. Daniel Karpowitz, the prison initiative's director of policy and national […]
It happened suddenly – on the pages of the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Chronicle of Higher Education – read as, industrialist Henry Rowan placed a $100 million strategic bet on creating a new kind of engineering school – i.e. reengineering engineering education for the better. Rowan’s legacy transformed the Glassboro […]
When Tyson Cooper began working in student accounts 10 years ago, debt collection on college campuses was viewed as purely business and "a necessary evil," says the director of student financial services at the University of Southern Virginia. Today, with increased attention on student success and the long-term effects of unpaid accounts, institutions need to […]
Ask one of our UB readers what segment of American higher education has experienced the most growth over the past 50 years and they will tell you Community and Technical Colleges. That said, the world has turned and the Demographic Tornado has diminished enrollment growth for Community Colleges situated in Northeast and Midwest industrial states. […]
Legislators, parents and students are not the only ones asking questions about the cost and quality of higher education. As educators, we don’t hesitate to ask ourselves and our universities to push for improvements. One major hurdle remains, however, as the academy does more to encourage and reward research output than it does to support […]
Kate Wing, a senior at Smith College, will soon join the 14 percent. That is, the 14 percent of students who started their postsecondary education in a community college, then transferred to a four-year school and earned a bachelor's degree within six years of entry. "In general the pathways to transfer are not clear, and […]
MONTCLAIR, New Jersey—Montclair State had been a university for only a few years when Susan Cole took over as president in 1998. She wanted the job—her second presidency—because she saw vast, untapped potential on the campus of 12,000 students. She also felt certain that she could, pretty quickly, ensure the institution lived up to its […]
Paul Drayton @RowanBurlington President, Rowan College at Burlington County (N.J.) "College is more important than ever for career success, yet too expensive for far too many students. 3+1 provides all the benefits of both community colleges and four-year universities while lowering the tuition and debt burden on students and increasing our capacity to serve more […]